[Anna Diop as Gaia]

TOWARDS DEATH

"through you"

     ARIADNE IGNORED THE stares from the gods and focused on Percy. The cut on his chest had stopped bleeding, but without nectar or ambrosia, they couldn't heal it. She tugged at the grey streak in his hair every time he pointed out that he got cut for her right above his heart. A cheeky smile adorned his tan face as she grumbled. The boy didn't ask what happened, as he knew she wouldn't be able to explain it, so he brushed against the slash on her cheek. 

Nothing was left of the giants except heaps of ash, a few spear and some burning dreadlocks. 

The Argo II was still aloft, barely, moored to the top of the Parthenon. Half the ships's oars were broken off or tangled. Smoke streamed from several large splits in the hull. The sails were peppered with burning holes. 

Leo looked almost as bad. He stood in the midst of the temple with the other crew members, his face covered in soot, his clothes smoldering. 

The gods fanned out in a semicircle as Zeus approached. None of them seemed particularly joyful about their victory. 

Apollo and Artemis stood together in the shadow of a column, as if trying to hide. Hera and Poseidon were having an intense discussion with another goddess in green and gold robes--Demeter. Nike tried to put a golden laurel wreath on Hecate's head, but the goddess of magic swatted it away. Hermes sneaked close to Athena, attempting to put his arm around her. Athena turned her aegis shield his way and Hermes scuffled off. 

The only Olympian who seemed in a good mood was Ares. He laughed and pantomimed gutting an enemy while Frank listened, his expression polite but queasy. 

"Brethren," Zeus said, "we are healed, thanks to the work of these demigods. The Athena Parthenos, which once stood in this temple, now stands at Camp Half-Blood. It has united our offspring, and thus our own essences."

"Lord Zeus," Piper spoke up, "is Reyna okay? Nico and Grover and Coach Hedge?"

Zeus knitted his cloud-colored eyebrows. "They succeeded in their mission. As of this moment they are alive. Whether or not they are okay--"

"There is stull work to be done," Queen Hera interrupted. She spread her arms like she wanted a group hug. "But my heroes...you have triumphed over the giants as I knew you would. My plan succeeded beautifully."

Zeus turned on his wife. Thunder shook the Acropolis. "Hera, do not dare take credit! You have caused at least as many problems as you've fixed!"

The queen of heaven blanched. "Husband, surely you see now--this was the only way."

"There is never only one way!" Zeus bellowed. "That is why there are three Fates, not one. Is that not so?"

By the ruins of the giant king's throne, the three old ladies bowed their heads in recognition. The other gods stayed well away from the Fates and their gleaming brass clubs. 

"Please, husband." Hera tried for a smile, but she was clearly frightened. Ariadne found no pity for her. "I only did what I--"

"Silence!" Zeus snapped. "You disobeyed my orders. Nevertheless...I recognize that you acted with honest intentions. The valor of these eight heroes has proven that you were not entirely without wisdom."

Hera looked like she wanted to argue, but she kept her mouth shut. 

"Apollo, however..." Zeus glared into the shadows where the twins were standing. "My son, come here."

Apollo inched forward like he was walking the plank. He looked so much like a teenage demigod it was unnerving--no more than seventeen, wearing jeans and  camp Half-Blood T-shirt, with a bow over his shoulder and a sword at his belt. With his tousled blond hair and blue eyes, he might've been Will Solace's brother on the mortal side rather than his father on the godly side. The fear in his face looked rea, and also very human. 

The Three Fates gathered around the god, circling him, their withered hands raised. 

"Twice you have defied me," Zeus said. 

Apollo pursed his lips. "My--my lord--"

"You neglected your duties. You succumbed to flattery and vanity. You encouraged your descendant Octavian to follow his dangerous path, and you prematurely revealed a prophecy that may yet destroy us all."

"But--"

"Enough!" Zeus boomed. "We will speak of your punishment later. For now, you will wait on Olympus."

Zeus flicked his hand, and Apollo turned into a cloud of glitter. The Fates swirled around him, dissolving into air, and the glittery whirlwind shot into the sky. 

"What will happen to him?" Jason asked. 

The gods stared at him. 

"It is not your concern," Zeus said. "We have other problems to address."

An uncomfortable silence settled over the Parthenon. 

"Father," Jason said, "I made a vow to honor all the gods. I promised Kymopoleia that once this war is over none of the gods would be without shrines at the camps."

Zeus scowled. "That's fine. But...Kym who?"

Poseidon coughed into his fist. "She's one of mine."

"My point," Jason said, "is that blaming each other isn't going to solve anything. That's how the Romans and Greeks got divided in the first place."

The air became dangerously ionized. Ariadne's scalp tingled. Percy shifted closer to her, his shaking hand grabbing hers'. 

"Apollo wasn't the problem. To punish him for Gaia waking is--unwise."

"Unwise." Zeus's voice was almost a whisper. "Before the assembled gods, you would call me unwise."

Jason noticed his friends watching on full alert. Ariadne and Percy looked ready to jump in and fight at his side.

Then Artemis stepped out of the shadows. "Father, the hero has fought long and hard for our cause. His berves are frayed. We should take that into account."

Jason started to protest, but Artemis stopped him with a glance. Her expression sent a message so clear she might have been speaking in his mind: Thank you, demigod. But do not press this. I will reason with Zeus when he is calmer.

"Surely, Father," the goddess continued, "we should attend to our more pressing problems, as you pointed out."

"Gaia," Annabeth chimed in, clearly anxious to change the topic. "She's awake, isn't she?"

Zeus turned towards her. 

"That is correct," Zeus said. "The blood of Olympus was spilled. She is fully conscious."

"Oh, come on!" Percy complained. "We get cut just a bit and we wake up the entire earth? That's not fair!"

Athena shouldered her aegis. "Complaining of unfairness is like assigning blame, Percy Jackson. It does no one any good." She gave Jason an approving glance. "Now we must move quickly. Gaia rises to destroy your camp."

Poseidon leaned on his trident. "For once, Athena is right."

"For once?" Athena protested.

"Why would Gaia be back at camp?" Leo asked. "Percy and Ari's blood was here."

"Dude," Percy said, "first off, you heard Athena--don't blame us. Second, Gaia's the earth. She can pop up anywhere she wants. Besides, she told us she was going to do this. She said the first thing on her to-do list was destroying our camp. Question is: how do we stop her?"

Frank looked at Zeus. "Um, sir, Your Majesty, can't you gods just pop over there with us? You've got the chariots and the magic powers and whatnot."

"Yes!" Hazel said. "We defeated the giants together in two seconds. Let's all go--"

"No," Zeus said flatly. 

"No?" Ariadne asked. Her voice was rough, a mean look in her eyes. "What--"

Zeus's eyes sparked with power, his temper grew, just as Ariadne's. 

"That's the problem with prophecies," Zeus groled. "When Apollo allowed the Prophecy of Eight to be spoken, and when Hera took it upon herself to interpret the words, the Fates wove the future in such a way that it had only so many possible outcomes, so many solutions. You eight, the demigods, are destined to defeat Gaia. We, the gods, cannot."

"I don't get it," Piper said. "What's the point of being gods if you have to rely on puny mortals to do your bidding?"

All the gods exchanged dark looks. Aphrodite, however, laughed gently and kissed her daughter. "My dear Piper, don't you think we've been asking ourselves that question for thusands of years? But it is what binds us together, keeps us eternal. We need you mortals as much as you need us. Annoying as that may be, it's the truth."

Frank shuffled uncomfortably, like he missed being an elephant. "So how can we possibly get to Camp Half-Blood in time to save it? It took us months to reach Greece."

"The winds," Jason said. "Father, can't you unleash the wins to send our ship back?"

Zeus glowered. "I could slap you back to Long Island."

"Um, was that a joke, or a threat, or--"

"No," Zeus said, "I mean it quite literally. I could slap your ship back to Camp Half-Blood, but the force involved..."

Over by the ruined giant throne, the grungy god in the mechanic's uniform shook his head. "My boy Leo built a good ship, but it won't sustain that kind of stress. It would break apart as soon as it arrived, maybe sooner."

Leo straightened his tool belt. "The Argo II can make it. It only has to stay in one piece long enough to get us back home. Once there, we can abandon ship."

"Dangerous," warned Hephaestus. "Perhaps fatal."

The goddess Nike twirled a laurel wreath on her finger. "Victory is always dangerous. And it often requires acrifice. Leo Valdez and I have discussed this. And Ariadne Phoneix knows, too." She stared pointedly between the two. 

Their friends watched the two shift and tense up. It seemed they had the same idea. 

"Ari, Leo," Annabeth said, "What is Nike talking about?"

Leo glanced at Ariadne then waved off the question. "The usual. Victory. Sacrifice. Blah, blah, blah. Doesn't matter. We can do this, guys. We have to do this."

A feeling of dread settled over them. Zeus was correct about one thing: the worst was yet to come. 

Jason stood tall. "Leo's right. All aboard for one last trip."

The demigods began boarding the ship, nodding and saying goodbye to their respective parents as they did. Ariadne quickly made her way to the deck, beginning her way to grab any belongings in her room to send with Aphrodite, as the goddess promised to keep them safe then deposit their belongings once the battle was won. 

"Ariadne," Aphrodite's voice stopped her. "We tried to get your father here. He just..."

Ariadne shook her head and scoffed, "You don't need to make excuses for him. I've known for a while that you gods don't care, so why should I?"

The sentiment hung over the deities' shoulders. Zeus glared, and the air around them crackled, but Ariadne ignored that in favor of completing her task. She was exhausted. 

The last they saw of the gods, Zeus was a hundred feet tall, holding the Argo II by its prow. He boomed, "HOLD ON!"

Then he tossed the ship up and spiked it overhand like a volleyball. 

If Ariadne hadn't been safe below the ship, she would have disintegrated. As it was, all the air was sucked out of her lungs. 

The sky turned black. The ship rattled and creaked. The deck cracked like thin ice under their legs and, with a sonic boom, the Argo II hurtled out of the clouds. 

The hatch burst open. Frank and Hazel stumbled through, pulling on he guide rope they'd attatched to the mast. Piper, Annabeth, Ariadne and Percy followed, all of them looking disorieted.

"Go!" Leo yelled. "Go, go, go!"

For once, Leo's tone was deadly serious. 

They'd talked through their evacuation plan, but that slap across the world had made Ariadne's mind sluggish. Judging from the others' expressions, they weren't in much better shape. 

Buford the table saved them. He clattered across the deck with his holographic Hedge blaring, "LET'S MOVE! MOVE IT! CUT THAT OUT!"

Then his tabletop split into helicopter blades and Buford buzzed away. 

Frank changed form. Instead of a dazed demigod, he was now a dazed grey dragon. Hazel climbed onto his neck. Frank grabbed Ariadne and Percy and Annabeth in his front claws, then spread his wings and soared away. 

The ground wasn't much less chaotic. 

As they plummeted, Ariadne saw a vast army of monsters spread across the hills--cynocephali, two-headed men, wild centaurs, ogres and others he couldn't even name--surounding two tiny islands of demigods. At the crest of Half-Blood Hill, gathered at the feet of the Athena Parthenos, was the main force of Camp Half-Blood along with the First and Fifth Cohorts, rallied around the golden eagle of the legion. The other three Roman cohorts were in a defensive formation several hundred yards away and seemed to be taking the brunt of the attack. 

Giant eagles circled a wind-harnessing Jason, screeching urgently, as if looking for orders. 

Frank the grey dragon flew alongside with his passengers. 

"Hazel!" Jason yelled. "Those three cohorts are in trouble! If they don't merge with the rest of the demigods--"

"On it!" Hazel said. "Go, Frank!"

Dragon Frank veered to the left with Annabeth and Ariadne in one claw yelling, "Let's get 'em!/Wooh!" and Percy in the other claw screaming, "I hate flying!"

Piper and Jason veered right towards the summit of Half-Blood Hill. 

Ariadne rolled onto the ground and sprung up, Cygnus in hand as she ended up beside her brother. "Pollux!"

Pollux grinned, his eyes becoming glossy with unshed tears. The boy twisted his sword in his hand, kicking back and swinging at an Earthborn as his sister sent a wall of them flying back and exploding into clay pieces with a large vine. "Hey, Ari. How was the trip?"

"Could've been better," Ariadne confessed. She narrowed her eyes. "Duck!"

He did as she swung above where his head once was and felt the dust of a monster on his cheek. Pollux gave her a final side nudge before they were both swallowed into the battle. Ariadne kept stabbing and impaling ogres and monsters as ended up reuniting with her fellow campers. 

A cheer went up amng the Romans as the five cohorts melded into massive killing machine. Frank pointed his sword forward and, from the golden eagle standard, tendrils of lightning swept across the enemy, turning several hundred monsters to toast. 

"Legion, cuneum formate!" Reyna yelled. "Advance!"

Another cheer on the right as the forces of Camp Half-Blood appeared. 

"Greeks!" Percy yelled. "Let's, um, fight stuff!"

They yelled like banshees and charged. 

Jason grinned. He loved the Greeks, They had no organization whatsoever, but they made up for it with enthusiasm. 

Ariadne had one main question: Where was Gaia?

Unfortunately, she got the answer. 

Under her feet, the earth rippled as if Half-Blood Hill had become a giant water mattress. Demigods fell. Ogres slipped. Centaurs charged face-first into the grass. 

AWAKE, a voice boomed all around them. 

A hundred yards away, at the crest of the next hill, the grass and soil swirled upward like the point of a massive drill. The column of earth thickened into the twenty-foot-tall figure of a woman--her dress woven from blades of grass, her skin dark, her hair brown and tangled like tree roots. 

"Little fools." Gaia the Earth Mother opened her pure green eyes. "The paltry magic of your statue cannot contain me."

As she said it, Ariadne realized why Gaia hadn't appeared until now. The Athena Parthenos had been protecting the demigods, holding back the wrath of the earth, but even Athena's might could only last so long against a primordial goddess. 

Fear as palpable as a cold front washed over the demigod army. 

"Stand fast!" Piper shouted, her charmspeak loud and clear. "Greeks and Romans, we can fight her together!"

Gaia laughed. She spread her arms and the earth bent towards her--trees tilting, bedrock groaning, soil rippled in waves. Ariadne cursed as monsters and demigods alike started to sink into the ground. One of Octavian's onagers capsized and disappeared into the side of the hill.

Ariadne tried to keep th ground steady and loose enough for people around her, and it helped to some extent. 

"The whole earth is my body," Gaia boomed. "How would you fight the goddess of--"

FOOOOMP!

In a flash of bronze, Gaia was swept off the hillside, snarled in the claws of a fifty-ton metal dragon. 

Festus, reborn, rose into the sky on gleaming wings, spewing fire from his maw triumphantly. As he ascended, the rider on his back got smaller and more difficult to discern, but Leo's grin was unmistakable. 

"Pipes! Jason! Firebird!" he shouted down. "You coming? The fight is up here!"

As soon as Gaia achieved liftoff, the ground solidified.

Demigods stopped sinking, through many were still buried up to their waists. Sadly, the monsters seemed to be digging themselves out more quickly. They charged the Greek and Roman ranks, taking advantage of the demigods' disorganization. 

Jason put his arms around Piper and Ariadne's waists. He was about to take off when Percy grabbed Ariadne's hand and yelled, "Wait! Frank can fly the rest of us up there! We can all--"

"No, man," Jason said. "They need you here. There's still an army to defeat. Besides, the prophecy--"

"He's right." Frank gripped Percy's arm. "You have to let them do this, Percy. It's like Annabeth's quest in Rome. Or Hazel at the Doors of Death. This part can only be them."

Percy obviously didn't like it, but at that moment Ariadne stomped and sent the demigods still stuck in the ground soaring up out of the dirt. Vines swirled as monsters began sweeping over their forces. His sea-green eyes locked onto her amethyst ones', and she only smiled, whispering a soft, "I love you."

Jason spiralled them upward on the wind. 

"I've got the cure," Piper murmured like a chant. "It'll be fine. I've got the cure."

Ariadne gulped down knowing they'd use it for Leo. She didn't need to worry, they'd be safe. And as for her, she'd be okay after her decisions. Daughter of the mind shall break her own, And topple the Earth from its throne. This was about her and Gaia. She'd make sure it stayed that way. 

As they ascended, Jason gathered the wind and clouds around him. The sky responded with frightening speed. Soon they were in the eye of a maelstron. Lightning burned his eyes. Thunder made his teeth vibrate. 

Directly above them, Festus grappled with the earth Goddess. Gaia kept disintegrating, trying to trickle back to the ground, but the winds kept her aloft. Festus sprayed her with flames, which seemed to force her into solid form. Meanwhile, from Festus's back, Leo blasted the goddess with flames of his own hurled insults. "Potty Sludge! Dirt Face! THIS IS FOR MY MOTHER, ESPERANZA VALDEZ!"

His whole body was wreathed in fire. Rain hung in the stormy air, but it only sizzled and steamed around him. 

Jason zoomed towards them. 

Gaia turned ino loose white sand, but Ariadne cocooned her head in a mist of madness, forcing herself to turn back to normal as she screamed. 

Gaia fought back. When she wasn't disintegrating, she lashed out with shrapnel blasts of stone and soil that Jason barely deflected. Stoking the storm, Ariadne containing Gaia, and keeping themselves aloft...it was incredibly difficult. But they had to keep Gaia off the ground. 

Long ago, Ouranos the sky god had been tricked down to the earth by Gaia and the Titans. They'd held him on the ground so he couldn't escape and, with his powers weakened from being so far from his home territory, they'd been able to cut him apart. 

Now Jason, Leo, Ariadne and Piper had to reverse that scenario. They had to keep Gaia away from her source of power--the earth--and weaken her until she could be defeated. 

Together they rose. Festus creaked and groaned with the efoort, but he continued to gain altitude. Ariadne still didn't understand how Leo had managed to remake the dragon. Then he recalled all the hours Leo had spent working inside the hull over the last few weeks. Leo must have been planning this along and building a new body for Festus within the framework of the ship. 

"YOU CANNOT DEFEAT ME!" Gaia crumbled to sand, only to get blasted by more flames. Her body melted into a lump of glass, shattered, then reformed again as human. "I AM ETERNAL!"

"Eternally annoying!" Leo yelled, as he urged Festus higher. 

The other three rose with them. 

"Get me closer," Piper urged. "I need to be next to her."

"Piper, the flames and the maddness and the shrapnel--"

"I know."

Jasom moved in until they were right next to Gaia. The winds and madness Aencased the goddess, keeping her solid, but it was all Ariadne and Jason could do to contain her blasts of sand and soil. Her eyes were solid green, like all nature had been condensed into a few spoonfuls of organix matter. 

"FOOLISH CHILDREN!" Her face contorted with miniature earthquakes and mudslides. 

"You are so weary," Piper told the goddess, her voice radiating kindness and sympathy. "Eons of pain and disappointment weight on you."

"SILENCE!"

The force of Gaia's anger was so great that Jason momentarily lost control of the wind. He would've dropped into free fall, but Festus caught them in his other huge claw. 

Amazingly, Ariadne and Piper kept their focus. "Millenia of sorrow," Piper told Gaia. "Your husband Ouranos was abusive. Your grandchildren the gods overthrew your beloved children the Titans. Your other childre, the Cyclopes and the Hundred-Handed Ones, were thrown into Tartarus. You are so tired of heartache."

"LIES!" Gaia crumbled into a tornado of soil and grass, but her essence seemed to churn more sluggishly. 

If they gained any more altitude, the air would be too thin to breathe. Jason would be to weak to control it. Piper's talk of exhaustion affected him, too, sapping his strength, making his body feel heavy. 

"What you want," Piper continued, "more than victory, more than revenge...you want rest. You are so weary, so incomprehensibly tired of the ungrateful mortals and immortals."

"I--YOU DO NOT SPEAK FOR ME--YOU CANNOT--"

"You want one thing," Piper said soothingly, her voice resonating through Jason's bones. "One word. You want permission to close your eyes and forget your troubles. You--want--SLEEP."

Gaia solidified into human form. Her head lolled, her eyes closed, and she went limp in Festus's claw. 

Unfortuantely, Jason started to black out, too. 

The wind was dying. The storm dissipated. Ariadne kept up her attempts on the maddness shield, but readied herself for her own personal plan. 

"Leo!" Piper gasped for breath. "We only have a few seconds. My charmspeak won't--"

"I know!" Leo looked like he was made of fire. Flames rippled beneath his skin, illuminating his skull. Festus steamed and glowed, his claws burning through Ariadne's shirt. "I can't contain the fire much longer. I'll vaporize her. Don't worry. But you guys need to leave."

"No!" Jason said. "We have to stay with you. Piper's got the cure. Leo, you can't--"

"Hey." Leo grinned, which was unnerving in the flames, his teeth like moltem silver ingots. "I told you I had a plan. When are you going to trust me? And by the way--I love you guys."

Festus's claw opened, and Jason and Piper fell. 

Ariadne clambered from her hold onto the dragon's metal claw, wrenching herself higher as Leo's eyes widened. He became an indistinct ball of fire in the sky--a second sun--growing smaller and hotter. Her skin was close to burning, and the girl gave him a serene smile. 

"You need to go!" Leo shouted, voice desperate as he couldn't hold the flames back. "It's supposed to be me!"

"I know you never gave the cure to Piper," Ariadne said. She positioned her palm to hover over the direction of the ground, seeming to will something from below. "Use it. I love you too, Leo."

The comet they became turned into a ball of fire. The explosion turned the entire sky gold. Leo screamed, his body flying back, but a bundle of constantly growing vines caught him. They lowered to the ground as he watched Ariadne pull out her sword, giving a final stab at the body of Gaia, which seemed to open a crack in the ground, and she was gone. 

He blacked out. 

***

     THE ELFISH-BOY coughed as he heaved in a breath, blinking his eyes open as Annabeth pulled a vial back. The Physician's Cure. His eyes widened remembering what happened, and they found the unconscious bodies of Jason and Piper, who had been plucked out of the sky by giant eagles and brought to safety. Festus was creaking somewhere behind him, somehow still functioning. 

Leo turned his head to catch sight of tears down everyone's cheeks. His brows furrowed. "What--why are you guys crying?"

"We thought you were dead!" Hazel sobbed. She gripped his hand tightly, knuckles turning white. "We didn't know if the cure would work."

Frank nodded. "You looked so...dead."

"Gee, thanks," Leo said sarcastically. "Where's Ari?"

Annabeth turned her head. "She's over by Percy. We don't know how she made it out unscathed, but she seems okay."

A few feet away,  behind the rest of their friends, was Percy questioning Ariadne, who gave him an annoyed look at his warning. He seemed pretty inquisitive regarding how she survived, but the girl shuffled about, blowing him off. Leo wasn't interested in their couple quarrell, but rather, the fact that the ground was rippling beneath her feet. Where the darker color of skin was meant to be, it seemed to be cracking beneath the grime and dirth on her arms. There was an unnatural glow about her that couldn't have been Aphrodite's blessing. 

"Annabeth," Leo whispered urgently. The other three leaned closer as he motioned. "I saw Ari fall into the ground. There's no way she made it out unscathed."

"Ground?" Frank questioned. "She told us she kept you and herself safe by using vines. Are you sure you feel okay?"

Leo nodded, insistening that they ask the girl what was up. Annabeth stood slowly, Hazel helping leopard sit up a bit more and move Jason and Piper closer to the medics that were working hard on treating campers and legion members. 

The daughter of Athena stepped closer to her best friend. "Ari, Leo said you fell into the ground. I thought you used your vines?"

A look of surprise crossed Ariadne's face. She tilted her head, tapping her foot a bit as she thought. Percy watched with cautious eyes, hand squeezing his pen as the girl gave a grin.

"I did get into the ground," Ariadne reassured them. "But I used the vines to get out." Her amethyst eyes seemed duller as they pierced Percy with scrutinty. "Come on, Percy. You and Annabeth don't need to worry."

That got them. Ariadne only ever called them their names when she was overstimulated, angry, or not herself. Never had she said it so casually since she was younger, and the way she kept gulping at their long stares was off. The girl's eyes darted between the fellow prophecy members, a scowl twisting onto her lips as she rolled her eyes. 

"I hoped that would've tricked you guys," she muttered. Cygnus spun out and hit Percy in his gut, her foot kicked Annabeth back by the chest. She spun the golden sword around a bit. A smirk crawled along her lips. 

Pure green eyes swept over the teens. 

Ariadne opened her eyes, groaning slightly. She didn't know where she was. It was incredibly dark, and it felt like she was surrounding by soil, which made sense as she drove the body of Gaia into the dirt further. Hefting herself to her feet, the girl was confused on how she was breathing properly. 

"You're awake," the voice of Gaia echoed in her head. "Do you know where you are?"

She spun around to see the human-sized version of Gaia. The goddess smiled tightly, her beautiful features placed perfectly. But that wasn't what caught her attention--it was the fact that Ariadne's body was holding a different head. Gaia had taken over. 

"What the hell is this?" Ariadne questioned angrily. She reached for her sword, and Gaia did the same, copying her actions perfectly. 

"We're in a collective area of our minds." Gaia motioned around them. "We both decided on this dirty landscape, it seems. Right now your friends believe I'm you!"

Her blood went cold. "You took over my body?"

Gaia shrugged carelessly. "I suppose. They just found me out, actually. So, looks like I get to kill them up close and personal. And when I do, your face will be the last thing they see."

A psychotic grin directed at the young girl. Ariadne stumbled back. The idea was crazy--her friends dying at her hands. She couldn't live with that. That wasn't supposed to happen. "How?"

It was a weak question that Gaia chuckled at. 

"Yes, well, you see," the goddess started circling Ariadne, "when you were born, I found that you held a higher capability of controlling the earth. So, I began using you as a channel, per se. Watching your life and everything."

The goddess noticed the wariness in her amethyst eyes. "You don't believe me?"

"I believe that you're a dead bitch," Ariadne spat. She slowly began raising Cygnus. "How the hell are you alive?"

Gaia tapped her head. "Through you, Ariadne. My physical body may be destroyed and not able to rise again, but by putting part of my power over the course of years into you, I can control your body." She pinched Ariande's jaw and chin between her fingers, gripping tight enough to bruise. "You didn't seriously think you were the reason you had such great powers? I only hightened your ability. All those useful skills, that was me. You're weak on your own, Ariadne. You should be thanking me."

She let the girl go as she dropped to her knees feeling the worst pain in her head that she's ever felt. Gaia watched with simmering happiness as the girl sobbed, tears hitting the soild beneath them as she ripped at her head. 

Ariadne was no one. All this time, all her accomplishments, they were all due to Gaia's power infesting her. That's why she's always been too powerful for her own good despite being a demigods. She was never really special. 

"Really, this is pitiful, Ariadne." Gaia nudged at her shoulder with her converse-clad foot. "You get told your whole life is a lie and you start sobbing. See what I mean when I say you're nothing? You would've never been chosen for those quests without me! That soulmate talk is all bullshit! Percy only likes you because you're strong. Not because he likes you. Everyone loves what you give them, nothing to do with you being anything."

The ground began sinking slowly. Ariadne couldn't move due to the pain, and she whimpered as her lower body began being covered by dirt and rocks. She tried to stop the pain, to find a way to get Gaia out of her head, but she couldn't. All that anger, all that frustration and power, was nowhere near the level she needed. Her curls hung in her face as she cried harder. 

Gaia swung her own version of Cygnus around. "I almost want to continue playing pretend as you, but, I have gods to kill and an Earth to save. Once your mind is gone, I can fully take over. Your friends are putting up a good fight. But, you know, they're not as good as you--or, me."

Ariadne's breathing labored. Her friends were still out there somewhere, having to fight her own mindcontrolled body that was following Gaia's orders. Somewhere was her older brother watching himself slowly lose hope for saving the world and his last sibling die ever so slowly. She felt the pain become a numbness in her head, the soil sifting through her hands as she gripped at the ground rather than her head. Cygnus set firmly on her finger. 

There was no way Ariadne would let some goddess bring her to her feet. She hated the gods, that was evident, and she refused to have lived her life as a pawn for one that was about to kill her. Death or not, her freinds and family needed her. Because they may know she was powerful, but that didn't mean she wasn't her own person. Gaia couldn't control her experiences, her relationships, or even her thoughts. If she was weak after this, so be it, but the woman was going to be dead once she was done. Her jaw clenched as she spun Cygnus to life and swiped the other sword out of Gaia's hands. 

Gaia gasped, her hand shooting out to send a flurry of vines, but Ariadne whacked them down. The girl swung out and cut Gaia's cheek. The goddess growled, somehow having her own version of Cygnus back in her hands. The two gold swords clattered together, sparking and screeching as the metals separated once Ariadne moved away and kicked out Gaia's legs. 

The woman knocked an elbow into her ribs, sending her back a bit as she stabbed Cygnus into Ariadne's thigh. The girl ignored the pain and took her hand, wrapping it around Gaia's neck and squeezed. The goddess floundered as she lost the ability for air, scratching at her hand as the sword fell. 

Ariadne kicked her limp body away, leaving her roll into the dirt. The girl quickly walked and hovered her sword over Gaia's face. The goddess grinned with ichor in her mouth. 

"Doing this will harm you," Gaia taunted. "Who will you be once my powers are gone? Useless, little Ariadne, a girl of nothing. A girl who's own mother abandoned because she caused only pain. How much longer after this will everyone you will rely on leave you?"

"As long as you're gone, I don't give a shit," Ariadne snapped. "Fuck you, Gaia. Hope you rot wherever you go."

Cygnus plunged into Gaia's face, ichor splattering across her face from the force. Ariadne panted as the pain in her head grew to nothing. As it did, a crack of light erupted above her. 

Ariadne reached up and grabbed hold.

Percy had been the only one able to fight 'Ariadne.' It turned out to be Gaia controlling her, and the cuts and lacerations on all their bodies weren't helping them win the battle. 

Vines had kept the rest of Camp Jupiter and Camp Half-Blood back. Jason and Piper were still out of comission, Leo was too weak to try and help, Frank was nursing a massive wound on his side as a limping Annabeth held feed him nectar and ambrosia. Hazel was holding her head, hit by some short force of madness that left her scared. 

The son of Poseidon knew that wasn't his love. The eyes were souless and a different color, and her voice held a deeper rasp than normal, but the look of her made it difficult to stop the muscle memory of wanting to hold her. This was Gaia, not Ariadne. And it seemed that there was no stopping her destruction as she swung at him again. 

"Aidan, come on," Percy begged. "I know you're in there. You gotta stop this. I can't...I can't do it."

Gaia grinned. "Come on, Jackson. You know the only way to stop me. Ariadne's gone. She's hopless in her mind and she's about to be replaced for good. There's only one way."

Kill her, was his first thought. Ariadne was too powerful for anyone in this state, and he needed to end it before Gaia fully took over and destroyed them all. Percy just didn't have the heart. 

Then, through the struggle, he looked over to a small opening being made through the vines. Pollux began pushing through. His darker purple eyes, resembling the deepest of wines, caught his. The son of Dionysus glanced at what was his sister's body, and a flash of sorrow erupted in his chest. Percy watched as Pollux gave him a strained look, reminding him it was okay. What Ariadne would want. And the boy was brought back to the night before. 

She leaned her head against his bare chest, tracing the skin above his heart as he shut his eyes into her curls. Ariadne hummed a song from camp softly. Their breaths began to even out before she broke the silence.

"You need to promise me that if it ever came down to it, you'll do whatever it takes to keep everyone safe."

Percy raised an eyebrow. His hand slid further beneath the blanket along her side. "Odd promise. I do that anyway."

She snorted at him. Ariadne nosed beneath his jaw, pressing a light kiss there over a bruise along his tan skin. "I mean it. Don't put me over everyone, you understand?"

"I don't know," Percy said. "I love you too much not to try. You're my best friend. My one and only."

"There will be others," Ariadne murmured against his neck. She sounded as if she was trying to convince herself. "I don't have to be settled on if I was gone."

The boy shushed her. He pulled her closer and sighed through his nose, trying to think through her request. Percy tried to imagine her warmth for the rest of his days, but the haunting idea that she would be gone for good caused him to shudder in fear. "I can't promise, Aidan. But I'll try."

Ariadne nodded against his chest. "Okay. Just remember me."

Percy swallowed the memory down and hardened himself. With a steady grip on Riptide, he ducked beneath Gaia's arm. As she spun around, she gasped, ichor mixed with purple blood flooded her mouth. The goddess gurgled slightly as she stumbled back from the black stuck in her chest. She was amazed he had done it. 

As her body hit the ground, Ariadne's face melted into Gaia's. Her skin crackled, and everyone watched as the body of their friend began melting into the dirt below. Then, suddenly, as if she never existed, she was gone. 

Perseus Jackson had killed Ariadne Phoenix. 

author's note:

So....um, yeah I've had this idea planned out for so long, like since 2021 I'd say. It's finally happened. It might not be the most creative, but I enjoyed it connecting back to her headaches and blood turning an odd color. 

Cliffhanger! Not really since I think we all know what will happen next chapter. Sorry for taking so long its close to finals and I had sp much stuff happening. I also went back to my roots and posted a gift of Ariadne for the first time in so long!

Q: Favorite Percaidan moment?

A: I truthfully really enjoy their first heart-to-heart in the first birk. They were so young and new to two different worlds: percy to the godly world and Ariadne to the mortal one. It was nice they opened up and became closer.

Love you guys!